By Mark Wineka
Salisbury Post
Back at her trailer, Nina munched on carrots and peppermints after her day of pulling a road cart was done.
“You couldn’t offer enough money for this horse,” a proud Shawn Painter said, giving the 28-year-old Arabian a pat.
About a half-hour earlier, Nina had posted the best time of the day through an obstacle course set up by the Whips and Wheels Driving Club. Painter served as the driver, and they finished the course in 1 minute, 24 seconds.
Along the way, Nina and her driver had to run over and break an egg, back up and knock off a board, cross a bridge, maneuver through cones and push over some water bottles.
Before lunch, Pat Granzyk (Painter’s grandmother) drove Nina on the “trace and pace” course ó a prescribed cross-country trip that meandered up and down the hills of three different properties off Hurley School Road.
“Two old ladies ó the horse and me,” said Granzyk, who is 70. “… She hardly broke a sweat.”
The optimum time for the trace and pace course was set at 48 minutes, and competitors were judged on how close they came to that time and whether they completed various tasks along the way.
Granzyk bragged that Nina actually galloped up one of the hills ó she was that full of spirit Sunday.
Whips and Wheels is a horse-and carriage driving club with about 40 members from the Salisbury-Mocksville area. This was the first driving event held on the properties off Hurley School Road, and it attracted a dozen competitors on the mostly cloudy Sunday.
The horses ranged from the miniature ó Chris Peckham’s Cheyenne ó to the giant.
Among the biggies were David and Carlette Moser’s Belgian draft horses, Joe and Bob, and Doug Prevette had his Percherons, Frank and Joe, pulling his German-built carriage.
In between, there were competitors such as Paradox Farms’ Peanut and Jelly Bean ó Shetland crosses driven by Emily and Adam Ureche. Polly Hixson of Pfafftown was driver for her New Forest pony named Charm.
“It was a blast,” Hixson said of the morning’s trace and pace course. She loved sharing the quiet of the woods and fields with Charm, who is pregnant and expecting in June.
In these kinds of events, Hixson said, it’s supposed to be fun, relaxing ó no pressure.
Granzyk said Whips and Wheels prefers these kinds of outings to the “fancy, schmancy events.”
“It’s very calming, in today’s stressful world, to go out and enjoy your horse,” Peckham said.
Peckham, a stay-at-home mom from Statesville, said she just joined Whips and Wheels and described the club as offering a laid-back, non-political atmosphere compared to breed shows.
Cheyenne is an 8-year-old miniature who eats less than some dogs. Peckham apologized for the horse’s bad-hair day.
David Moser, who brought his Belgians from Siler City, said the trace and pace course was a leisurely stroll for Joe and Bob, who are bred to work. Moser often works the horses at home, as they help in raking hay or discing fields and gardens.
They’re “very willing animals,” he said. “They’re born to do what we were doing.”
On Sunday, at their first driving event, the workhorse Belgians pulled an Amish carriage ó the same kind a farmer would use except for the fenders and padded seat.
Moser shows the Belgians at the N.C. State Fair and rides them in community plow days.
Faith Bradshaw, president of Whips and Wheels, begged the Mosers to bring the Belgians to Salisbury, and Moser was more than willing.
There’s never a bad day when you’re driving a horse, Moser said. “And anything to promote the carriage and the heavy horse is a good thing,” he added.
Bradshaw agreed that the horse-and carriage competitions such as the one held Sunday are laid-back, no pressure, come-as-you-are events meant to be fun for the horse and drivers.
When driving, all the person in the cart or carriage has to guide the horses are the lines and his voice. He guides and stops with the lines, and his voice gets the horses moving.
It’s normal for the voice commands to include kisses, whistles and expressions such as “Team up.”
The biggest teams Sunday were only two horses. But other events can have four-, six- and eight-horse teams (such as Budweiser Clydesdales).
In the more formal horse-and-carriage drives and shows, drivers follow American Driving Rules and wear a hat, brown gloves and a lap robe to keep off the mud.
Bradshaw laid out the Salisbury trace and pace course, as drivers followed pink and orange tape over the rolling terrain.
Club members are always looking for land to drive on, and properties are becomingly increasingly scarce with urban development.
Sunday’s top three finishers in the obstacle course were Painter, Nancy Faller of Mocksville and Hixson.
The trace and pace winners were Tricia Hardy in the horse division; Moser, pairs; Erin Hoyle, ponies; and Liz Patton, rider.
Shawn Painter and Pat Granzyk said they were glad to make the trip to Salisbury from Winston-Salem Sunday. Painter was surprised at how well he did in driving the obstacle course, given that he hadn’t taken the reins in six years.
But he wasn’t surprised at Nina’s performance.
“She’s a pro at this,” he said. “She’s been doing it all her life.”
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Contact Mark Wineka at 704-797-4263 or mwineka@salisburypost.com.